Caramoor's holiday season in Katonah opens with voices. On Sunday, December 6, the vocal ensemble Cantus performs Christmas with Cantus: Lessons and Carols for Our Time in the Rosen House Music Room, with two performances, at 2 p.m. and 4 p.m. Tickets start at $55.

The program

Cantus is a low-voice ensemble now in its 32nd season. Its holiday program takes the shape of the traditional Lessons and Carols service, where readings alternate with music, and replaces the scripture readings with poetry chosen by the poet Michael Kleber-Diggs. Caramoor describes the theme of the afternoon as hope, peace and unity.

The music runs from the familiar to the far-flung. The set list published by Caramoor opens with an arrangement of I Saw Three Ships and includes Silent Night, O Come All Ye Faithful and Auld Lang Syne in new arrangements, alongside Eric Whitacre's Lux Aurumque, Sarah Quartel's Sing, My Child, Taku Izumi's Miagete Goran Yoru no Hoshi o and Zanaida Robles's Kujichagulia. Between them come readings of poems by Nikki Giovanni, Emily Dickinson, Mark Strand, Mary Oliver and Derek Mahon, among others, plus a poem by Kleber-Diggs himself.

Who is singing

The ensemble lists eight singers for the tour, including tenor Paul Scholtz, in his tenth season and one of the group's artistic co-directors, and tenor Paul John Rudoi, a composer whose own Last Kind Words is on the program.

The room

The Rosen House is the Mediterranean-style home at the center of the Caramoor estate, and its Music Room is where the center holds its fall and winter concert series. Caramoor serves a complimentary wine and cheese reception in the Summer Dining Room 45 minutes before each performance, so plan to arrive early.

Go deeper first

Caramoor pairs the concert with a free Juilliard Extension course, Sacred Songs, Folk Roots: The Making of the Christmas Carol, on Thursday, November 19, at 6 p.m. It is part of the Dive Deeper series that accompanies the Rosen House concerts.

The night before

Caramoor's calendar also lists the Watkins Family Hour in the Rosen House on Saturday, December 5, at 8 p.m., so a weekend at the estate can take in both.

Tickets and getting there

Caramoor is at 149 Girdle Ridge Road in Katonah, a short drive from the Katonah station on Metro-North's Harlem Line and from Interstate 684. Tickets are sold on caramoor.org; the box office takes calls at 914-232-1252, Tuesday through Friday from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m., and opens on site two hours before each performance. Only covered drinks are allowed in the hall during the music.

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